In a Chicago courtroom awaiting Nav Sarao sentencing. Five minutes to go...
Nav in a black suit and brown shoes looking considerably younger than his 41 years. All sides agree he should escape jail. Judge just has to agree...
DOJ making case for ‘time served’...’this is a rare even unique case and individual.’
Judge asking about the extent of Nav’s assistance in building other cases - as well as the Jitesh Thakkar case...
DOJ says goes beyond just grassing up Thakkar...the knowledge he relayed on cheating in markets was instrumental to how the government would go on to understand and target other spoofers.
Now his lawyer is talking up the Asperger’s defence. Nav saw everyone else spoofing, his lawyer says, so he called the CME incessantly to complain. When he was ignored he started doing it himself. ‘People with autism are bad with subtle distinctions.’
Lawyer cites ‘utter lack of concern for the money.,’ says he scoured the records and couldn’t find another case where the money is ‘literally irrelevant’ to the perpetrator.
Judge: what about the fact he paid a programmer $24k to build a machine to spoof for him? Lawyer: Nav was obsessed with the ‘game,’ saw it like FIFA
Judge looks pretty nonplussed. Lawyer running out of steam. Question is if she’ll be willing to go against the prosecutors....
Lawyer now talking about how Nav totally unravelled in Wandsworth jail. Couldn’t sleep, hyper sensitive to noise and light, hints that Nav was suicidal. “I was deathly afraid he wouldn’t survive.” Stakes are rising.
Lawyer basically suggesting if the judge jails Sarao then she’ll be potentially signing his death warrant. Stand by: Sarao about to talk.
Lawyer: Mr Sarao poses no risk to anyone. His case is a cautionary tale...and he was biologically preconditioned to do what he did....I besiege your honour to return him to his family.
Nav has barely moved since all this started. Standing at the dock with a piece of paper in his hand and his eyes down. Now he talks...
I was totally addicted to trading...I made more money than I could ever have imagined and it didn’t make me happy...my guilt is heavy. I humbly ask your mercy and can assure you I will never do anything illegal again.
Nav says found god, believes in karma, wants to turn his life around.
Judge says all well and good but “...it doesn’t impact the seriousness of what happened back in 2010...in spite of fact spoofing felt like a video game it had serious economic impact.’
My sentence will be one year of home incarceration
This is a fuck up. The probation officer stepped in to say that’s unenforceable outside the UK. Judge says needs to have sentence to reflect crime. Taking 20 min recess. Drama!
(This should have said outside the US.) Judge and probation officer now off discussing the logistics of how this might work. Think it’s probably a ‘good’ outcome for Nav, albeit not what he and the DOJ were pushing for.
While we’re waiting, Nav’s speech was pretty damn moving. “I spent 36 years trying to find happiness on a path built on a lie...I had done the things that society says will give you happiness and when they didn’t I didn’t know where to look.”
“I made more money than I could ever have imagined...(and when I was rich) I felt pressure to live a different life, but when I thought about buying expensive things I knew I would get bored of them...Money doesn’t buy happiness and I’m glad I know that now.”
“Then my brother gave be a spiritual book and it changed my life forever..my goal now is to cleanse myself and benefit from gods wisdom.” Says that, despite all the suffering he’s endured he wouldn’t change a thing as he’s learned how to live.”
Right, he’s got supervised release with strict conditions that can’t leave house except for medical visits, education, legal visits or funerals. “I’m not giving him leave to go to the gym.”
Judge adamant that he’ll be confined to his home. “I hope that this is a lesson to you.”
Considering he rarely leaves the house I don’t think it’s the worst outcome.
Session over and lots of confused looking people. Over and out for me. It’s been emotional. And don’t forget to buy the book! This is just the top of the iceberg.
